Networks are useful in a number of modern fields. Networks and services (e.g., applications) based therein (e.g., network services) are widely used in many modern endeavors and entities and can be important to an operation thereof. Network health can thus be significant in such fields. Network health relates to a network's ability to interconnect and exchange information between computers, communication media, etc. networked therewith and thus, to a functional ability of a network to effectively provide network services.
Factors that comprise significant network health related characteristics include the effectiveness, functionality and efficiency of network services and network reliability, and availability. Network health characteristics characterize operational network reliability and how well network services can be used and is subject to a number of influences from various sources. Monitoring the network health-related influences can be a significant network management (e.g., network administration, etc.) task. To monitor these network health related influences, information related thereto must be gathered.
One conventional approach to monitoring network health related influences is the collection and analysis of data from network devices such as routers, network switches, etc. Such device related information is useful for determining network connectivity, reliability, efficiency, and the like. However, this device related data are related only indirectly, and in some cases perhaps marginally, to network services. Further, such data must be organized and tabulated, which adds latency. This latency can limit the relevance of these data to real-time network health monitoring.
The latency can also affect user and network management convenience. Rather than aggressively monitoring network health characteristics in real-time, which could for instance allow proactive network health management, network administrators and other network management entities may typically learn of network health related issues upon receipt of notification that a network user is experiencing a problem such as a network services application running sub-optimally on a server.
Another conventional approach monitors network services and displays health related information associated therewith, such as that a service is operational or not. However, where networking issues outside the purview of the network services impacts the usefulness and functionality thereof, such as where an off line router or other network anomaly creates a bottleneck in network traffic, conventional network services health applications remain unaware of the root of the problem.